Grammy Awards

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The Grammys are always a sure bet for out-there looks. All eyes were on Lady Gaga, who was up for a swag of awards in 2019, the first appearance by Korean megastars BTS, and the tight race in the rap categories between Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Travis Scott, to name a few.

Kacey Musgraves won the big one. Lady Gaga won a few. But before we review the scorecard from the 61st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, let’s check the attendance sheet — because this was a ceremony defined by the no-shows and the Recording Academy should be embarrassed about that.

The 60th annual Grammy Awards celebrated the biggest names in music Sunday night at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It was the first Grammy ceremony held outside of Los Angeles since 2003, with James Corden hosting the evening as The Recording Academy recognized achievements in the music industry over the past year. One of the big storylines ahead of the event was the Academy’s embrace of hip-hop artists throughout the general fields, particularly Record and Album of the Year, which both saw Childish Gambino, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar nominated. But it was R&B star Bruno Mars who swept the categories, in addition to Song of the Year, for his work on 24k Magic. Mars was the third-most nominated artist with six, trailing behind Lamar (seven) and Jay-Z (eight).

Of all the biggest takeaways one could take from the Grammys on Sunday night (Jan. 29), one of the least arguable is this: Bruno Mars stays winning. In fact, no male artist in contemporary pop music has enjoyed a longer undefeated streak this decade than Bruno. His first charting single as a featured artist went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2010, as did his first as a lead artist five months later. He's topped the chart more times (seven) this decade than any other male artist. Each of his three LPs has been certified multi-Platinum by the RIAA, and in between two of them, he casually tossed off the most ubiquitous smash of 2015, practically as a favor to producer bud Mark Ronson.

In the days after the Grammy Awards, some griping about the winners can always be expected, with debates in recent years focusing on racial diversity and the institution’s relationship with hip-hop. But following the 60th annual Grammys on Sunday, two words uttered backstage by Neil Portnow, the president of the Recording Academy, ignited a controversy that has drawn rebukes from some of the most powerful women in music at a particularly fraught time, amid the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements against harassment and professional inequality.

Oh man. James Hetfield was pissed off after Metallica’s performance at the 2017 Grammy Awards! After some embarrassing ‘technical difficulties’ with his mic during the Feb. 12 award show, the metal icon was so frustrated that he took out his anger by throwing his guitar off stage!

If you thought Hollywood award shows couldn’t get much more political than when Meryl Streep delivered an anti-Trump speech while accepting her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes, gird yourself because the Grammys red carpet got even more serious about the movement. But for this particular celeb-studded affair, instead of pointed remarks and eloquent speeches focused on the President and his policies, stars were letting their red carpet outfits make the political statement for them, ranging from Katy Perry‘s very blunt armband to Blue Ivy‘s more subtle statement purse.

Katy Perry's new single "Chained to the Rhythm" enjoyed its live debut at the Grammys on Sunday. It's a groove-heavy song with blatant nods to downtown 1980s New York – the title echoes Grace Jones' 1985 classic "Slave to the Rhythm" – and the disco era from a few years before.

The Time and Bruno Mars honored Prince with a stirring, relentlessly funky tribute segment at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. It's hard to imagine a group better suited to honor Prince than the Time. They were close collaborators in the 1980s, with Prince writing and producing much of the music on the Time's early, classic trio of albums: The Time, What Time Is It?, and Ice Cream Castle. Members of the Time also appeared opposite Prince in the 1984 movie Purple Rain.

The 2017 Grammy Awards is well underway inside downtown Los Angeles' Staples Center, and from the flawless fashion seen on the red carpet to the show-stopping performances and every surprise courtesy of host James Corden in between, this might just be the music biz's biggest night yet.